In Giant Polypores and Stoned Reindeer, author-mycologist Lawrence Millman travels far and wide in search of weird and unusual fungi.  The book contains essays about (among other things) fungi that grow in shit, fungi that you can find on Christmas, a fungus that weighs 300 pounds, a fungus that keeps away mosquitoes, and fungi on the Harvard campus.   You can even learn about a fungus that grew on the summit of Mt. Everest (hint: it grew on the head of a mountain climber).   Is there a fungal entity in Alaska that’s a quarter of a mile in diameter?  The intrepid author goes off in search of it.

“I dare you to put this book down once you open it,” wrote mycologist Elio Schaechter about Millman’s collection of fungal essays.